Any of you still masking?

[Cooper]

Administrator’s Note:

Gentlemen, Please keep politics out of this thread. Messages have been reported  for using offensive political terms. 

Thanks. 

[+ WilliamM]

1 hour ago, Unicorn said:

 

 

 

It's unfortunate that some people have trouble facing the facts,

Of course, most of the people who think they never had it simply had an asymptomatic infection. 

Come on, @Unicorn

Perhaps, calm down.

[EZEtoGRU]

On 12/1/2022 at 12:50 PM, harlow said:

I still mask on planes.  Or if i'm on crowded public transportation.  I haven't caught a cold since so I guess thats good

Me too.  I just returned from Ft. Lauderdale yesterday.  I was masked up at both airports and on both flights.  I saw only a few other people with masks...so usage is waning.  Since my trip was mid-week the restaurants I visited were all pretty quiet so I did not use a mask in them.  

[pubic_assistance]

3 hours ago, Unicorn said:

This is simply factual information, regardless of what anyone opines. If someone doesn't want to believe this, one can only say, in the unforgettable words of Jack Nicholson "You can't handle the truth!". Simply stating that one doesn't want to believe something doesn't change the facts.

I am so lost.

How is it possible this is "factual" and accurate but my sampling of several hundred people is overwhelmingly Covid negative ?

This is a very bizarre coincidence if this statistic is true.

I wonder what is unique about all these people and/or their habits. Maybe all my friends wash their hands more than the rest of you 😜

[Luv2play]

Reading the link to the Harvard study, my takeaway is that while Covid deaths are down from the incredibly high level of last January, they are still  a leading cause of deaths in the US (200 a day in California). That ain't nothing to be concerned about, especially if one has co-morbitities such as diabetes or lung disease.

[+ WilliamM]

4 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

Reading the link to the Harvard study, my takeaway is that while Covid deaths are down from the incredibly high level of last January, they are still  a leading cause of deaths in the US (200 a day in California). That ain't nothing to be concerned about, especially if one has co-morbitities such as diabetes or lung disease.

Thank you.

[pubic_assistance]

14 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

Reading the link to the Harvard study, my takeaway is that while Covid deaths are down from the incredibly high level of last January, they are still  a leading cause of deaths in the US

Yes.

But keeping in mind the Covid deaths of 2022 are primarily elderly people who would also likely die from a case of influenza.

Cancer and Heart Disease are four times as likely to take you out.

Young / healthy people aren't dying from the current variants.

 

[Luv2play]

4 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

Yes.

But keeping in mind the Covid deaths of 2022 are primarily elderly people who would also likely die from a case of influenza.

Cancer and Heart Disease are four times as likely to take you out.

Young / healthy people aren't dying from the current variants.

 

Yes, of course all those people are dying from what you described and have been doing so for millennia. But now more are dying from Covid on top of all those other causes. Covid wasn't around 3 years ago.  It is having an effect on life expectancy in the US and not for the better.

[Luv2play]

So I just checked on life expectancy changes as a result of Covid. It appears the US has done worse than many European countries who have bounced back from 2020. The US has not and maybe surprisingly within the population, while the LE for those over 80 has bounced back to preCovid levels, it has not for those under 60.

[mike carey]

53 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

I am so lost.

How is it possible this is "factual" and accurate but my sampling of several hundred people is overwhelmingly Covid negative ?

This is a very bizarre coincidence if this statistic is true.

I wonder what is unique about all these people and/or their habits. Maybe all my friends wash their hands more than the rest of you 😜

I don't think there's as much of a contradiction as there seems to be. When testing was more thorough, and often mandated in certain circumstances, there was a significant proportion of those testing positive who had been asymptomatic, so I doubt that self-reporting figures provide an accurate reflection of actual disease incidence now that testing is less frequent. In the latest statistics I looked up (on the Bloomberg covid summary page) the US has had 98m and New York state 6.4m confirmed cases which are both in the region of 30% of the population (yes, some of them are second cases for individuals).

So, yes it's possible that your acquaintances have been lucky and not caught Covid. It's also possible that they have been lucky to have been asymptomatic, and not been picked up by a test either through happen-stance or avoidance. But the odds are, whether they know it or not, about a third of them have been infected at some time.

We routinely judge annual influenza outbreaks on metrics like hospital admissions and ICU numbers, not by any measure of the total number of infections. Public health officials make recommendations for precautions based on predictions and actual numbers of these metrics. The same thing will likely happen with SARS-Cov-2. They will also use the statistics they have on the relative prevalence of the different antibodies generated from vaccinations and infections to inform their advice. And they will use all of that to inform their recommendations on vaccinations from now on and (circling back to the topic of this thread) on the advisability of masking for certain elements of populations.

[pubic_assistance]

1 hour ago, mike carey said:

So, yes it's possible that your acquaintances have been lucky and not caught Covid. It's also possible that they have been lucky to have been asymptomatic, and not been picked up by a test either through happen-stance or avoidance. But the odds are, whether they know it or not, about a third of them have been infected at some time.

Just counting my New York Friends ..we got together Thanksgiving weekend and asked that everyone be tested as we had a few elderly guests. Among the 50 guests only one of them was testing for antibodies. Everyone else tested negative.

My family in Pennsylvania test frequently because my father has emphysema and would definitely die from Covid. None of them has tested positive.

My wife needs to test frequently at work and only a few of her teammates have test positive.

My kids test frequently as they participate in extracurricular activities . None of their friends have tested positive.

Am I living in some alternative universe or are these statistics being exaggerated with a lot of guess work ?

Edited December 4, 2022 by pubic_assistance

[+ sniper]

A friend of mine was testing himself daily and only tested positive one day(he had been vaccinated this was before boosters). He wears a fitness tracker and his resting hear rate spiked that day only and he felt otherwise fine. I know of a few other people who only tested postinlve for a brief window.  I think it's most likely the case that many people who were vaccinated had it and simply didn't know it.

[pubic_assistance]

54 minutes ago, sniper said:

I know of a few other people who only tested postinlve for a brief window.

That's not how immunity works. If you come into contact with a virus, your body makes T cells that carry markers indicating their introduction to every virus they've encountered.

[mike carey]

43 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

That's not how immunity works. If you come into contact with a virus, your body makes T cells that carry markers indicating their introduction to every virus they've encountered.

I assumed he was talking about testing positive for the virus itself, not for the resultant T-cells or any other marker of immunity.

[+ sniper]

1 hour ago, pubic_assistance said:

That's not how immunity works. If you come into contact with a virus, your body makes T cells that carry markers indicating their introduction to every virus they've encountered.

The covid tests people are taking don't test for immunity, they test for the virus.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, EZEtoGRU said:

..so usage is waning.  Since my trip was mid-week the restaurants I visited were all pretty quiet so I did not use a mask in them.  

How does masking in a restaurant make any sense whatsoever? Do you quickly take your mask off while holding your breath, put the food in, then start breathing again once the mask is back on? Do you make sure no air gets in with your food? If you're truly concerned about the danger of the virus (and you shouldn't be--it's less virulent than most colds), then you should only eat outdoors or in your house. I suppose outdoor eating is achievable in Fort Lauderdale, but good luck with that in Canada. 

[Guest]

6 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

I am so lost.

How is it possible this is "factual" and accurate but my sampling of several hundred people is overwhelmingly Covid negative ?

This is a very bizarre coincidence if this statistic is true.

I wonder what is unique about all these people and/or their habits. Maybe all my friends wash their hands more than the rest of you 😜

Wow. I hope you're joking (hence the smiley face), but it's been known since August 2020 that the virus isn't transmitted through surfaces, dirty hands, hand-shaking, etc. As for not believing the study put out by the Harvard School of Public Health, we are indeed fortunate to have someone in our midst who's more knowledgeable than those inadequately-trained Harvard faculty... 😄

But, seriously, it's wisest to trust findings of scientists who know what they're doing, instead of simply relying on personal observation and opinions, such as the meaning of a set of tests before a Thanksgiving dinner. If we all believed only in what we personally observe, and our personal interpretations of our observations, we'd still believe the earth is flat, the sun and heavens revolve around the earth, and so on. Society can only advance if we use science to advance our knowledge and society. 

Science can make some (most?) uncomfortable when it challenges our beliefs or how we view things. But any society that rejects science will languish. Look at the disaster in China, where decisions aren't guided by science. 

Edited December 4, 2022 by Unicorn

[pubic_assistance]

44 minutes ago, Unicorn said:

we are indeed fortunate to have someone in our midst who's more knowledgeable than those inadequately-trained Harvard faculty... 😄

 

I am not saying I am "more knowledgeable" than anyone.

I am saying my sample group is so drastically different than this statistic that it can't be coincidental. I'm going to circle back around since its the holidays and do my own little research project. As I pay holiday greetings to my tribe, I want to see how many people I know who have been tested multiple times and are still Covid negative. 

Call me skeptical.

Edited December 4, 2022 by pubic_assistance

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

By 2022 we all should be aware that what we are TOLD by various Government affiliated authority is what we are meant to believe. Not always what it factual...

The data are collected by almost innumerable research institutions, and published in various journals. The data are peer-reviewed and available for all to see. You honestly think that all of these organizations are in a conspiracy with the government for some bizarre reason? 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, mike carey said:

I assumed he was talking about testing positive for the virus itself, not for the resultant T-cells or any other marker of immunity.

You're right. IgG antibody levels slowly wane over time and will determine for how long, if at all, virus will be detectable by antigen tests after exposure. For example, if someone gets exposed 4 weeks after getting over a prior infection, or after an omicron booster, the antibody levels will be so high that the virus will likely never be detectable. At some later time, say 3 months, for example, the virus might be detectable for just 2 or 3 days (even though that person would probably not be contagious). Even later, say 9 months, the virus might be detectable for a week, and maybe that person could spread the virus, even if he never got symptoms. 

[pubic_assistance]

14 minutes ago, Unicorn said:

You honestly think that all of these organizations are in a conspiracy with the government for some bizarre reason? 

I can't discuss my feelings about that until the politics forum is back up for the season.

[mike carey]

Moderator's Note

Gentlemen, let's keep this to the discussion of masking and covid and stay away from any political angles to it.

[pubic_assistance]

Just now, mike carey said:

Moderator's Note

Gentlemen, let's keep this to the discussion of masking and covid and stay away from any political angles to it.

Yup. Caught myself and redirected.

 

[Luv2play]

11 hours ago, Unicorn said:

 

 

 

It's unfortunate that some people have trouble facing the facts, but this question has been researched and answered:

https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/11/26/just-1-in-20-people-in-the-u-s-have-dodged-covid-infection-so-far/

"...An estimated 94% of people in the U.S. have been infected with the COVID-19 virus at least once, according to according to a new paper from researchers at Harvard’s School of Public Health... "Moving forward we are in probably the best shape that we’ve been,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco who specializes in infectious diseases and did not participate in the study... "

This is simply factual information, regardless of what anyone opines. If someone doesn't want to believe this, one can only say, in the unforgettable words of Jack Nicholson "You can't handle the truth!". Simply stating that one doesn't want to believe something doesn't change the facts.

There are specialized antibody tests that can check if someone has antibodies due to prior infection (N-protein), versus simply due to the vaccine (S-protein). I've never tested positive, though I'm sure I've had it at least once, given my (and my partner's) frequent social engagements, plays, movies, opera, and travel. 

Of course, most of the people who think they never had it simply had an asymptomatic infection. 

This study hasn't been peer reviewed yet.

Edited December 4, 2022 by Luv2play

[jeezifonly]

Was meant to be a 2020 novelty.

Might be back for a third year

🙄